Betty and the Real World
- My brother-in-law called me last night. He's planning a trip to Europe and asked (very tongue in cheek) if, when I had gone with Mijneer van Voorhees some years earlier, I had minded all of the naked art. "Are you kidding?" I replied. "I majored in nudity." Which is sorta true. Humanites majors don't have to be a very imaginative lot. So, I just love it when The Betty talks art. In Stormy Springtime she visits the Rijksmuseum for a half-hour (I protest!). The Professor hustles Meg past the Nachtwacht 'because it was something everyone went to see when they visited Amsterdam'. And then she gets what must be a sprinting tour past the p
aintings of Jan Vermeer (my fave!), Pieter de Hoogh, Paulus Potter and Ruysdael. Well, if it's good enough for Meg...
Hang on to your hats 
ladies.
- While in Amsterdam Meg spends a little time exploring on her own and stumbles upon the seedy underbelly of Dutch caricature. One street has some dark, rather sinister S-E-X shops. First I had to get over the shock that Betty said you-know-what, rhymes-with-rex. Second, I had to wonder how Madame Betty (who had certain ideas about things but who also, as a nurse, was well-acquainted with other things) thought about the sea change in Dutch life over the years. At any rate, I don't think I've got enough stickers in my arsenal that could manage to make that visual family friendly. Okay, I think I'm out of euphemisms...
- In Discovering Daisy, Dr. Jules der Huizma discovers Africa. Okay, maybe not literally. He goes to help organize hospital for children yada, yada, plot device, yada, yada. If you consider that We Are the World was recorded in 1985 (the first time I discovered Africa. I spent it making paper dolls of all the singers and charging 10 cents for my sister Cindy to come see the genuine lip-synced show in my friend Tara and Dawn's living room--the proceeds of which I donated to a mini-market candy aisle) then that only puts Betty 14 years behind the curve.
I took a picture of the Rijksmuseum...from the canal. I'm sort of kicking myself that Dr. van der Stevejinck and I didn't go...but in my defense:
ReplyDeletea)I had never read a Betty Neels at that time.
b)We would have seriously only had about 1/2 an hour.
c)We had pretty much reached maximum museum capacity for one vacation - most notably The British Museum and The Louvre - along with several other smaller ones...we were museumed out.
I too remember being shocked when she refers to the S-E-X shops - It stood out in my memory, but I couldn't recall the particular book it was in. This often occurs with Betty - I'll recall an incident but not the book.
ReplyDeleteI did, however, just reread Uncertain Summer(1972)and was shocked anew when Gijs, (secretly in love with Serena who has been recently jilted)is proposing a marriage of convenience. He rattles off the usual laundry list of what he expects in a wife and then finishes by saying, "and someone to share my table, but not, I hasten to add, my bed." (pg 113) I nearly dropped the book! This was certainly not typical Betty! Needless to say, this causes our heroine to "splutter" and her face to flame. I hadn't read this book in many years and definitely forgot that line. Betty Suzanne II
I'm the same about remembering books. Whenever I'm on the phone with Betty Debbie I can remember details like that so vividly but couldn't tell you the title if my life depended on it. That's what Betty Debbie is for...
ReplyDeleteOkay, then -- let's test Betty Debbie. In which book does the hero's mother have a cozy moment with the heroine when they discover that they both use their hankies to dust a precious what-not -- in the heroine's case, some china thing that the hero has given her?
ReplyDeleteYikes, being put on the spot. Yeh, I have no idea...but when I do run across it now I will never forget. (I think there is one or two BN that I haven't read - maybe it's it one of those)
ReplyDeleteDoubtful -- it's one of the early ones (uh, first 25, say?) I think. But I can't remember. I'm pretty sure she's an Araminta, and one of the shy ones, but after that I'm lost. Oh, well, we'll read it when we read it and when we get to that scene, we'll all exhale and say "Aha!" in unison. Or something.
ReplyDelete